Sanders getting advice from expert who said Israel may have carried out Syria chemical attacks

Lawrence Wilkerson speculated on Israeli involvement in a 2013 interview.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Democratic US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks after winning at his 2016 New Hampshire presidential primary night rally in Concord (photo credit: REUTERS)
Democratic US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks after winning at his 2016 New Hampshire presidential primary night rally in Concord
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders is seeking advice on foreign policy from Lawrence Wilkinson, who has speculated that Israel might have carried out chemical attacks in Syria, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Wilkerson, a former Army Colonel who was chief of staff to former secretary of state Colin Powell, speculated on the possible Israeli involvement in a May 2013 interview with Cenk Uygur of Current TV, the Times reported. 
“This could’ve been an Israeli false-flag operation, it could’ve been an opposition in Syria,” he said, adding that Syrian President Bashar Assad may also have been responsible for the attack. 
“But we certainly don’t know with the evidence we’ve been given,” he added. “And what I’m hearing from the intelligence community is that that evidence is really flaky.” 
On Friday, Wilkerson said that in his suggestion of Israeli involvement, he was merely listing those who could have played a part, and wasn’t trying to fan flames against Israel, the Times reported. 
"I was just suggesting all the different people that could have been involved at a time when speculation was rampant,” Wilkerson said, adding that there was still some debate within the intelligence community about exactly what took place.
An aide to Mr. Sanders did not respond to a request for comment from the Times.